Podcast #175

IMAGINE YOUR SIBLING, WHO YOU ARE CLOSE TO, SUDDENLY DOES SOMETHING THAT GOES AGAINST THE VERY FIBER OF YOUR BEING. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

I will tell you what Bay Area artist, Liza Raynal did. She created a show. Can you imagine being put in a position of having someone so close to you do something that seemed so fundamentally counterpoint to your ideals, that you had to totally re-adjust your attitude about what life was about? Well that is how liza Raynal felt, when her little brother decided to take his life into his own hands.

What did he do you ask?

Before we get into that, let’s take a look at their relationship.

They grew up in a house hold where Liza felt she had to be the protector of her little brother. I never really find out why. I can only speculate.

I suspect the older child syndrome, where by default, the older sibling feels the need to protect the younger sibling. It is almost as if the older sibling, in this case Liza, takes on a parental role. It was easy for me to see how Liza could have taken on the mentality of “I am older, I have more life experience than you.”

Kind of like our parents did to us when we began to break our parental ties in search of teenage autonomy. Whether or not this is true, in regards to Liza and her brother, is as good as anybodies guess. She certainly didn’t say any of this to me. I just inferred it.

I also suspect there was some intellectual leashing going on in their relationship. Can I confirm this? No. But I CAN explain how I come to this conclusion.

When you listen to the interview, you will hear an interesting segment in which Liza reveals that her brother did not want her to do the show, AMERICAN JOE. Intrigued by this, and knowing that the play was HEAVILY inspired by their relationship, I ask why. She replies that her brother didn’t want people to think of him and his friends as mindless dummies who had no ability to make an educated decision about their life’s direction.

Well when I heard that I had to know if she was portraying them in that manner. And do you know what her answer was? Let’s just say that her answer sparked the idea that she felt she had intellectual control over her little brother.

Again, let me assert that I cannot confirm the validity of my opinion. They are in fact, just my opinion. BUT…being that I am cool as hell, I am sure that you agree that I can express my opinion on my own damn show.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE TIME IN YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU STOOD UP AGAINST AUTHORITY AND MADE THE BIGGEST DECISION OF YOU LIFE? AND I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT TIME YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE A BAD ASS AND FOUND THE COUAGE TO TELL YOUR DAD TO “SHUT UP!”

Polar opposites. That is something you have to understand in order to appreciate the significant decision that Liza’s brother made: The decision that would rock her world.
So what are some polar opposites? Just a few to get us in the mood:

Country Music – Rock and Roll

Black – White

Little – Big

Ballet – Kick Boxing

Thin – Fat

Ying – Yang

Microsoft – Linux

Hyundai – Mercedes

Wal-Mart – Habitat For Humanity

I am sure you get the picture by now.

So what was it that Liza’s brother did? What decision did he make that forced his sister to produce a play in record time?

He joined the Army. And now the pacifist sister was faced with losing proximity to her brother (thus no more leash), and had to deal with a member of her liberal family going off to kill in the name of patriotism. No longer could she delude herself with thinking she could impose her beliefs and ideals on her little brother. And now she had to deal with the ramifications of little puppy dog growing up ready to establish his identity in the world and his autonomy.

WHEN AN ANIMAL IS BACKED INTO A CORNER, IT WILL FIGHT FOR IT’S FREEDOM AND SOMETIMES TRY TO EXERT ITS DOMINANCE OVER THE ATTACKING PREDATOR

I stated earlier that I felt that during much of their relationship, Liza may have felt she had an intellectual leash on her brother. And when you listen to the interview, there will be a point in the interview where that becomes evident and you will understand why I was able to draw that conclusion.

Not only does little brother make a decision for himself that would shake the foundations of his relationship with his sister, be begins to exert his dominance over her when she decides to do a play chronicling there relationship up to and just beyond the point of enlistment.

IN THE WORLD OF THE ARTS WHAT IS THE BIGGEST SIN PERPETRATED AGAINST AN ARTIST? HOW ABOUT A BEING BOUND AND GAGGED. OR SHOULD I SAY…

CENSORSHIP! Little brother decides that, although big sister had a right to express her thoughts about their relationship, she DID not have the right to express the thoughts he communicated to her about the Army without his express consent.

So what happens is that little brother and big sister have discussions about little brother’s experience in the Army. Little brother opens up to big sister. Big sister, many times, sits on the phone STUNNED at the harrowing accounts her brother retells. Sister figures that these would make good theatrical presentations. BUT…

SCORE ONE FOR THE LITTLER BROTHER

…and here is where little brother begins to exert dominance, little brother expressly forbids her from retelling stories that he told her. In other words, Liza cannot retell any story that she herself did not have first hand knowledge about or could not find in public records.

So part of the show, American Joe, deals with Liza’s ability or inability to deal with the changes that affect her life amidst the major decision her brother makes. Liza’s ideals are tested:

How to maintain love when someone so damn close to you demonstrates, fundamentally, that they are not the same as you and don’t wish to be (this can be devastating to someone use to controlling a relationship)

What it takes for a family to stick together when a local decision (brother’s decision to join the army) has global implications (the brother could never understand how his decision would affect the whole family)

The idea of free speech, and free choice and his ability to make a decision that Liza would never chose for him

DO YOU THINK THAT LIZA HAS A SHOW, BEING THAT SHE IS CUT OFF FROM THE JUICY STORIES OF HER BROTHER?

I asked her why people should come see her show, knowing that I had developed some skepticism during this interview, wondering what she could possibly offer the audience in the face of censorship from her brother.

Her response was a bit touching, despite the apprehensive-ness of her response. Her response clearly shows that her internal and external struggles are show-worthy and despite the fact that she can’t tell any brotherly army stories, she can tell her story. And from her perspective her story has been just as harrowing.

So audience, listen to the interview. Enjoy it. It is cool as hell. Then decide if you want to go check out this stage movie. And then let me know what you think!!!

Stay Cool As Hell

P.S. Here is a little morsel of tantalization. At one point in the interview, I thought she was going to have an orgasm. But not in a Harry Met Sally way. In a much more organic, not really realizing what she was doing type of way. I enjoyed it.

SHOW NOTES
Marsh Theatre: The Website

Playing July 3rd thru Aug 15th @ The Marsh Theatre
Get Tickets: American Joe by Liza Raynal

Listen Now

american joe army liza raynal one man show one woman show The Marsh Theatre

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 6:14 pm and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.